Cowboys Recognize Cheerleaders’ Union

The Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 23, 2026, agreed to recognize the newly formed Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association as the collective bargaining representative for the cheerleading squad. A joint news release said the voluntary recognition followed meaningful discussion. Tad Carper, the team's senior vice president of communications, confirmed it to The Dallas Morning News. The step opens negotiations on pay, benefits and working conditions. The squad had received a reported 400 percent pay raise ahead of the 2025 season, lifting veterans from $15 an hour to $75 an hour, but the revised contract did not include health insurance. Netflix's America's Sweethearts (2024) renewed attention to pay; Kat Puryear said on season 1 her salary through 2022 equaled a substitute teacher's or a full-time Chick-fil-A worker's. In season 2, director Kelli Finglass called the wage push 60-plus years long overdue, and Megan McElaney said our efforts were heard and that dancers are athletes with so much value. Cheerleaders had earlier threatened a walkout over pay. Lacy Thibodeaux-Fields of the Oakland Raiderettes sued in 2014 after earning about $1,000 for a season; her attorney Sharon Vinick said it is an honor to be a quarterback but they do not do it for free. The Bills' Jills unionized in 1995 and dissolved a year later. CONTESTED: The wire summary references a 2018 lawsuit; Daily Mail cites a 2010s lawsuit by Erica Wilkins, who earned $16,000 in her highest-earning year. No dispute appears on the recognition itself. Contract talks are next.